Mumbai: SGNP may get pair of lions before monsoon

Ravindra, who was the oldest lion at SGNP, died In October 2022 due to age-related disease. File pic

If all goes to plan, the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) will soon get a pair of lions from Gujarat. A senior forest department official from Maharashtra said, "The Maharashtra Forest Department has sent a proposal to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to obtain two captive lions from Gujarat in return for two captive tigers from SGNP. We anticipate that the CZA will approve the proposal shortly, following which the animal exchange programme will be completed."

Sources told mid-day that the process is likely to be approved soon and the pair of captive lions might come to SGNP before the monsoon.

mid-day had reported that in the first week of November 2023, the state government had sent a letter to the member secretary, CZA (New Delhi) regarding the consent for the exchange of animals between the Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park and Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh, Gujarat. Sources from the state government told mid-day that recently, a reminder was once again sent to CZA to expedite the process. Dr V Clement Ben, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Western Wildlife Region (Mumbai) and SGNP Director and Chief Conservator of Forest, G Mallikarjun have played an important role in this entire process.

In the last week of November 2022, a pair of captive breeding lions arrived from Junagadh to SGNP. When the pair of lions was brought to SGNP, the captive safari had only one lion left, but it died last week. In October 2022, Ravindra, the oldest lion at SGNP died due to age-related disease.

The pair of lions brought to SGNP from Gujarat was 3 years old. The lions were initially kept in isolation and later released in the captive safari area. The captive lion safari was started at SGNP in 1975-76 and has been an important tourist attraction, helping generate revenue for the park. The lions in the safari were born to Asian and African lions rescued from circuses. The central zoo authority has directed not to let mating happen among the Asian and African lions in captivity, because of which the population of the captive lions in the SGNP did not increase.

The captive tiger and lion safari at SGNP, one of the most-visited national parks in the country, was started in the 1990s and since then has been an important tourist attraction. During the safari, visitors are ferried in mini-buses into an area that is fenced from all sides.

3 YRS
Age of lions when they arrived at SGNP